What is the New Collective Quantified Goal?
The recently concluded Bonn climate conference in Germany was critical for reviewing and reforming the climate finance architecture.
What is the New Collective Quantified Goal?
The recently concluded Bonn climate conference in Germany was critical for reviewing and reforming the climate finance architecture.
• What is NCQG?
A commitment of '$100bn per year till 2020' to developing nations was a target set at COP 2009. However, that was not sufficient according to climate experts. Therefore, the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement agreed on setting up a New Collective Quantified Goal for climate financing prior to 2025– which accounts for the needs and priorities of developing nations. The NCQG pulls up the ceiling on commitment from developed nations and that they respond to the increasing funding needs for loss and damage.
• What is the need for a new finance goal?
According to OECD, only 83.3 billion was provided, out of the $100bn promised by the developed countries, in 2020. As per the principle of "differentiated responsibility", since the economic growth of developed countries has come at the cost of high carbon emissions, they should shoulder greater responsibility. Even though funds available for climate funding have increased over the years, these are mostly loans that come at very high interest rates. This is only increasing the difficulties of countries already suffering because of climate crises.
Moreover, pushing the "net zero" pathway onto the low-income and developing countries is unfair, as they cannot pay for mitigation, adaptation and damage, along with developing key infrastructure.
A global transition to a low-carbon economy requires investments of atleast $4 trillion to $6 trillion a year, as per last year's Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan. In this light, the NCQG's focus should be on confessional financing and stopping debt creation. The Global Stocktate at COP 28 (in Dubai) is expected to chart a pathway for further climate action.